Monthly Archives: June 2008

Pure Imagination Chocolates

June 11, 2008 | by Ben 0

We ate at the Whole Foods food bar tonight (a fairly frequent stop for us, especially considering the health factor and kid-friendliness), and I decided to have a couple of their truffles for dessert. They were unbelievably good. They get them from Pure Imagination Chocolatier in Columbus. I tried the Theobroma*, which is supposedly very popular in Columbus. The ganache is a subtle mix of cloves, nutmeg, black pepper and cayenne. It’s very flavorful, but the spiciness does not overwhelm the chocolate flavor.

I also tried the Honey Au Chocolate. Despite the dark chocolate filling, the truffle tasted very intensely of wildflower honey. The texture of both truffles was very smooth but not obnoxiously buttery. A gallery which includes both of the chocolates mentioned above can be found here.

These truffles are far more interesting than anything you’ll find at Godiva, and I’ll definitely be sampling more in the future.

* Theobroma is the … continue reading

Juniper Grille

June 7, 2008 | by Sarah 3

Recently Ben and I stopped by Juniper Grille for lunch on a weekend. We had never been there before, but drove by it many times. The lighting was a little dark, but the inside was tastefully decorated. We both had a hard time deciding what to order because there were so many things on the menu that sounded good. I decided on the prosciutto, fig and goat cheese panini and Ben got the caprese panini.

The french fries were fresh cut, and the house made potato chips were also excellent and very addictive. I also ordered a glass of the house green tea, which had a hint of blackberry and was very tasty. The sandwiches were grilled on a panini press and were perfectly crispy.

Before we went to the Juniper Grille, we did a little research on the web and found that most people thought this was a great restaurant except for the service. Most reviews that we found were … continue reading

Homemade Vanilla Creamer

June 2, 2008 | by Ben 3

Sarah and I have been trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup, and non-dairy creamer is loaded with it. So I devised a recipe that tastes quite a bit like commercial vanilla creamers but is actually a lot better as it uses real cream and a vanilla bean.

Vanilla Creamer(makes about a quart)

3 cups whole milk1 cup heavy cream1 1/3 cups sugar1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Place the milk and sugar in a medium saucepan. Cut the vanilla bean down the middle and, with a paring knife, scrape the seeds into the milk, then add the pod to the pan.

Turn the heat to medium high, and stir after a few minutes to dissolve the sugar. Heat until boiling, then reduce heat to medium and boil for a minute or two, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and cool for at least 10–15 minutes, stirring occasionally so a film doesn’t form.

Refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours to allow the vanilla pod … continue reading